You may have noticed the “subscriber exclusive” tag on some recent stories on The Observer website.

As with most newspapers these days, we put most of our online content behind a paywall on our website. We do this because what we do is important, and no business can sustain itself by giving away for free its product. Our product is new and getting people to pay for it is what allows us to stay afloat as a business. In turn, which allows us the financial freedom to pursue quality journalism for you, the reader.

There is some content that we will always make available for free, as part of our commitment to public service. That content includes coverage of wildfires, floods and other public safety emergencies; and reports about dangerous disease outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic.

And we also give visitors to our website two free pageviews per month (five if they register their email address so we can send them sales pitches) in the hope that we can turn some of them into paying subscribers.

But those free pageviews can’t be used to access stories marked “subscriber exclusive.” That tag is our way of reminding folks that if they want full access to all of our content, they need to pay for it. And there’s a whole lot of content on our website that doesn’t make it into the print edition, simply because of a lack of space. That includes a wide array of puzzles, articles from Sports Illustrated, financial reports from The Street, and a steady stream of top-notch reporting from our EO Media sister papers around the state.

If you’re not already a subscriber, I hope you’ll consider taking the plunge. Click on the button at the bottom of this e-newsletter to see our latest offer.

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.